


Should I Tear My Eyes Out Now, Before I See Too Much?

by Silverskye13



Series: The Stairs to the Core (Grillster Stories) [9]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Flashbacks, Gaster Needs a Hug, Grillby gives him one, M/M, Post-War, Veteran Gaster, Veteran Grillby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-08
Updated: 2017-01-08
Packaged: 2018-09-15 20:53:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9256853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silverskye13/pseuds/Silverskye13
Summary: Today is the day that Gaster is reviewing for his new interns! Everyone is excited, there's a buzz of energy that floods through every inch of the room. There's a thousand and one students here excited for the chance to work with the famous Doctor Gaster, the monster who made the Core.And honestly... Grillby doesn't know why Gaster asked him to come. He knows nothing about science. Just looking at some of these kids' projects has him feeling intimidated and out of place. Honestly he doesn't even know why Gaster bothered inviting him.Until one of the prospective interns' projects starts something no one expected.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Wooooooo shoutout to calicocantaloupe on Tumblr for being the angsty muse for this one :3

“Well… this is definitely different than my normal Sunday mornings,” Grillby muttered quietly.

“I _know_ ,” came Gaster’s hushed, nearly breathless reply, “Isn’t it _great?!”_

Grillby chuckled, “Well… maybe if I had even the slightest idea of what’s going on.”

Gaster let out an excited whistle through his clenched teeth, “ _That makes it even better!”_

“Alright look sharp everyone!” came the bellow of a monster standing entirely too close to Grillby’s ear to be comfortable, “The Royal Scientist will be reviewing your projects now! Be ready to present!”

The room exploded into a fury of scurrying motion - well, more so than it already _had been_ , at least. Students who were once casually talking or showing off their work suddenly scrambled for their assigned tables and presentations, getting ready for the morning to begin. Grillby watched it all with mild interest. It was hard to be _truly_ awestruck when he had no idea what was going on with over half of these projects. But Gaster seemed excited, so that was promising at least.

This morning was the first in a week of reviews the scientist was conducting, looking for his next round of interns to teach management and expansion of the core facility. And of course, _every_ aspiring scientist, mathematician and engineer at the university had leaped at the chance to have an interview. So many in fact, that Gaster had decided the best way to interview them all was to… well… have them present their major work. It sure made things easier on an aesthetic level, Grillby figured. He… wasn’t quite sure how this was supposed to find the best _minds_ for the job, but science was Gaster’s thing so… he didn’t intervene. Gaster always tended to have a method to his madness, even if the method was too obscure to catch.

And while Gaster hadn’t _said_ anything, Grillby figured he might actually be another deciding factor in whatever obscure test Gaster was planning anyway. Though he had no real basis for that thought outside of Gaster’s insistence on Grillby joining him for the reviewing.

So here they stood in a room full of young monsters as they prepared their selected tables, readying for the first day of reviews. Grillby could _feel_ the apprehensive tension in the air as mightily as he could feel the surges in the core - which were… kind of annoying to be honest. Once Grillby stepped into Hotland he started feeling them, and it never really stopped until he left. It was good the monsters in here were oblivious to it though. Grillby thought some of the prospective interns might burst if they had _anything else_ they needed to worry about.

Grillby cleared his throat, “So I hope you know you’re explaining all of these experiments in normal monster speak for me.”

Gaster chuckled, “Don’t even worry about it.”

Gaster smirked, flicking slowly through his inventory for a moment. He pulled out a clipboard - holding on to an intimidatingly large amount of papers - and a blue erasable pencil, holding the items in a pair of hands he conjured for himself so his normal ones could still be used for signing. Then he straightened out his lab coat, squared his shoulders, and with a nod to Grillby started walking. Grillby followed a step behind him, trying to not look too overwhelmed as they progressed through the presentation room.

Grillby had to give Gaster points for looking the _exact opposite_ of his personality. No wonder he only threw his title out in conversation when he wanted to be intimidating! While he was working, he _was_ intimidating. His lab coat was all black, a stark contrast to the massive number of white jackets and collared shirts in the room, and the dark color made his already gaunt features look that much more cutting and harsh. And of course there were the scars on his face as well, that when paired up with an unreadable expression served to make him look like a storybook villain. Like he _knew_ what he was doing, and you _better know_ what you were doing as well! He looked like the kind of monster that knew everything, that went unquestioned.

Which was hilarious given how spastic and comical Gaster _actually_ was. Grillby was going to have to find a way to tease him about this later.

For now though he just walked beside the skeleton in quiet amazement, trying to look equal amounts unreadable. That’s what they were going for right? Professional and intimidating? Yeah... Grillby had no idea why he was here. And he felt… somewhat underdressed wearing just a vest over a long sleeved shirt. But goddamnit! Gaster hadn’t given him a dress code!

And now they were at the first table and Grillby didn’t have time to worry about it anymore.

Gaster was immediately greeted by an excited demon monster of some sort, standing proudly by some sort of machinery that Grillby… honestly… had no idea what the function was. It was just a metal box, as far as he was concerned. A metal box surrounded by several algorithms and equations that Grillby _also_ had no idea the function of. It was a lot of math and symbols and gibberish - a bit like looking at a language he didn’t know. Mostly because math _was_ a language he didn’t know.

“Alright miss,” Gaster said with a gracious smile and a soft sign with his hands - _oh_ Grillby was going to tease him about this later, “Please explain to -”

He ushered to Grillby, “-my partner here, Grillby, what your thesis is about.”

Grillby sparked a surprised frown, “ _Me?”_

“ _Him_ , sir?” the student echoed nervously.

Gaster smiled just a bit wider, “Well yes of course. Don’t worry, I’ll be taking notes. Just pretend I’m not here.”

The girl looked back to Grillby, smiling as politely as she could manage, “O… kay. So, this is a theoretical -”

“ _Ah_ , actually before you begin,” Gaster said with a wince, “I apologize, I forgot to tell you. You see, Grillby is a bit more into the culinary sciences than he is engineering. So be prepared for questions.”

“Oh… you’re a… chef?” the girl asked cautiously.

“Of a kind,” Grillby answered, flashing Gaster a sideways glare.

“Alright,” she said slowly, “Uh… how much do you know about uh… theoretical physics?”

“Nothing.”

“Oh boy,” she sighed, looking more nervous by the second, “Well… here goes I guess-”

And there it _went,_ right over Grillby’s head. Grillby spent the entire conversation flickering a lost expression in the girl’s direction as she explained what the magical little box she had was supposed to do. He _thought_ he might understand it when she mentioned the box was an infinite storage cube. Actually that part had been incredibly easy to understand. It was when he asked ‘how does that work?’ that she lost him completely. It was just a load of magic-based equations and bending the rules of time and space in a way that was handled far too casually for him to feel comfortable with it. Who just… _casually_ ignores the basic laws of the universe? Other than… Gaster… and the Core.

Okay, _maybe_ he shouldn’t judge this.

At least _Gaster_ seemed to know what the girl was talking about. Halfway through her presentation he took control of the conversation again, first asking her questions about her thesis and its uses before moving on to more personal questions about what her aspirations were and why she wanted the internship. As soon as the girl was speaking to Gaster she talked a lot more freely, using jargon that Grillby could never hope to understand and looking excited when Gaster understood it perfectly and batted it back to her. Grillby found himself wondering why Gaster had bothered introducing him into the conversation in the first place.

The interview was done in a matter of minutes, and with a nod Gaster turned to move on to the next table, and the process started again.

Once again, Gaster asked the prospective intern to explain to Grillby what their project was. Once again they floundered around trying to explain something to someone so ill-equipped to understand it. Gaster took control of the conversation and everything smoothed out so brilliantly it was like his presence alone could fix every problem. This time though, Grillby was standing just back enough that he could see the notes Gaster was taking on his clipboard. Beside the last two names were a slew of notes of varying praise and critique, and circled beside them both in Gaster’s large, symbol-like handwriting were the capital letters **_CSX_** _._

Grillby frowned at it.

They moved on, making it through two more projects before they reached the end of that row. Grillby took the pause in tables to ask:

“So, what does CSX stand for?”

Gaster gave an overdramatic gasp and flashed Grillby a scandalized look, “ _Grillby_ , were you peeking at my notes?”

Grillby flickered a chuckle, “It’s always possible.”

Gaster smiled, “So rude.”

Then he explained with a casual sign, “CS is just my shorthand for _communication skills_. The X means they aren’t the best.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Gaster shrugged, “It’s great that these kids are smart. Their projects are _impressive_. But if they can’t explain well what their work is about, it’s all a bit useless. Sure, _I_ can understand how the allowance of small rip equations in magical space can allow for a self-sustaining, infinite storage system, but _I’m_ not the mechanic that has to build it. Or the facility that has to mass-produce it. _Or_ the tech that has to repair it when something goes wrong.”

“Good communication skills are the _key_ to keeping the Core functioning,” Gaster continued in what was probably one of the most well-rehearsed rants Grillby had ever heard from the skeleton, “Its unstable nature means it takes constant maintenance, and if _I’m_ busy doing something else, it’s the interns I’ll be sending first to tell workers about changes needed in the system and explain the plans needed to implement those. If all they can do is regurgitate impressive vocabulary, they won’t be able to explain it properly.”

Gaster chuckled, “I mean, don’t get me wrong, the monsters working on the Core aren’t _stupid_. They’ve all figured out how to repair and do daily maintenance on experimental technology for heaven’s sakes! But they’re going to care about the intricacies of a time-space formula as much as the next guy.”

“Great, that sounds great,” Grillby said with a nervous sort of flicker, “So… _I’m_ the lower IQ test dummy then.”

“What?” Gaster frowned, all his previous flare washing away in a second, “No, _no_ Grillby. Come on, that’s not what I meant.”

“Gaster, I feel like a _moron_.”

“You’re not a moron,” Gaster snapped with a stern frown, “You could spin these kids’ heads around with how much you know about magic and swordplay, and the instincts it takes to stay alive in a tense situation. Where these kids would be utterly _useless_ , you could save lives.”

Gaster added gently, “Just because they speak a different language, that doesn’t mean _your_ language is bad.”

Yeah, right. That all sounded _fantastic_. Except Grillby didn’t feel reassured in the least. Just a little bitter. He couldn’t really fault Gaster for good intentions but… he still felt _bad_. He felt out of place and out of his league, and _extremely uncomfortable_. And the flicker of his flame in greens and yellows conveyed that.

Gaster sighed, rubbing the back of his neck a bit regretfully, “I’m sorry, Grillby. I probably should’ve run all this by you first.”

“Yes. You should’ve.”

“I was a little overzealous I guess,” Gaster said with a small smile, “Just… finish out this one day of reviews with me and you don’t have to come back again. Deal?”

Grillby heaved out a heavy, smoking sigh.

“Deal,” he said begrudgingly.

With that the two got back to their reviewing.

To Gaster’s credit, this line of tables yielded better results. Of the four in the row, two of them managed to sufficiently ‘dumb down’ their explanations so Grillby could actually understand what was going on and be properly impressed with their work. There was obviously more to their technologies than he would ever be able to understand - as evidenced by the follow-up questions Gaster had prepared for them. But at least the **_CS_** that was marked down by their name didn’t have an accompanying **_X_**.

They moved onto the next row.

Now that they had made it a good ways into the room, monsters from the first row were starting to chatter amongst themselves again, filling the presentation room with a subtle buzzing of noise. They kept their voices low, not wanting to ruin the presentations still to be done. Grillby was grateful for the background ambience though. It was a pleasant distraction to all the scientific jargon he was being bombarded with. It got a _little_ obnoxious when he heard some kid proudly gloating something-or-other about their experiment in particular, and then started up the machine.

Gaster sighed when the machine hummed to life, apologizing delicately as he interrupted the interview he was doing. Grillby watched as Gaster turned to stalk back down the row, a disgruntled frown on his face. Grillby flickered a sigh.

That kid was _in for it_.

“So, Grillby,” the might-be-an-intern-soon standing in front of him piped up, sounding the oddest mix of curious and brave, “Are you a fire elemental?”

Grillby stared at them for a long minute, long enough for them to fidget uncomfortably. _Excuse you? Grillby_ sure didn’t just waltz up to monsters and ask - ! Oh whatever. It’s not like there were very many elementals walking around these days anyway. And besides, this kid was _way_ too young to know all the damage behind the term _elemental_. That was an old war thing.

“Yes,” he said finally.

“Oh… that’s amazing!” they recovered, and Grillby wanted to sigh at them, “I’ve always heard - well I’ve _read_ so much about you! You _are_ the same elemental from The Great -?”

Grillby tuned them out like they were background static. This was _not_ the kind of attention he thought he’d be receiving today. First the stupid communication skills, and now this kid was going to drag him back through old war junk as if he were a history textbook. Grillby had never felt so uncomfortable in his whole life. He didn’t even talk to _Gaster_ about this stuff anymore, hardly. They’d moved on. He was just a bartender now.

An incredibly stupid, obsolete, can only find customers in the middle of nowhere _bartender_.

“Doctor Gaster? Sir?”

Grillby snapped his head around to the row behind them. That sounded _worried_. The kid’s voice was pitched up high enough that Grillby could hear it, and tinged with nervousness.

“Are you alright? _Sir?”_

Grillby made a shushing motion with his hands to the kid in front of him, “Sorry, give me just a second.”

He jogged off down the row. When he turned the corner around one of the tables he stopped dead. There was a _bright light_ , glowing and pulsing and crackling with magic. At first glance it almost threw Grillby off his feet, the overwhelming impulse to dive out of the way nearly driving him under the nearest table. But in a breath the feeling had washed over him and was gone, and he grounded himself back to earth, focusing on the feel of his clenched fists.

Gods, that looked _way too much_ like a mage’s staff to be normal. It was almost a complete recreation, runes and glowing crystal and all. Except… looking closer it _wasn’t_. It was a rod, decorated in a few runes that helped channel some magical energy into a battery and a generator and something else to make an experimental magic. It was one of the few experiments in here that he'd understood the explanation. While it was switched off it looked like a fancy lightning rod. _Now_ though… now it looked very much like it belonged in one of Grillby’s nightmares.

And there was Gaster just a few steps away, and just _seeing_ him so close to it made Grillby’s soul flinch. Gaster’s magic had dropped out of the air, the phantom hands that had been carrying the clipboard were gone, and his papers had scattered around his feet. And he was _shaking_ , arms pulled in close to hug himself, long slender finger bones clenched so tightly against the forearms underneath that for a few seconds Grillby was afraid he might hurt himself.

“Turn it off,” Grillby snapped quickly, and it took a moment for the kid running the machine to realize he was talking to them. They scrambled for wires while Grillby scrambled for Gaster.

In hindsight, he realized he did everything wrong. He moved too fast, suddenly appearing in Gaster’s peripheral vision where he didn’t belong. He’d grabbed the estranged monster’s shoulder in a motion he’d intended to be gentle, but when Gaster was panicked probably felt like someone was trying to corner him. Grillby _knew this_ because he’d _been through it._ It was entirely his fault when Gaster screamed and lurched away from him, pinned his soul with blue and threw him into the nearest wall.

Every monster in the room flinched and moved out of the way, a flurry of motion and sound, but all of them watched. Confused, scared, wondering why Gaster had suddenly just _snapped_. Wondering why he was holding a monster pinned to the wall with more attacks charging. Wondering why he was muttering in some weird language none of them could understand, shaking, in tears, staring at Grillby as if he were the most terrifying creature to ever step foot in the Underground.

Grillby tried pushing himself back of the wall, but it was useless with Gaster’s grip so tight on his soul. He held out his hands placatingly, trying to stave off the charging magic in the air. Grillby knew Gaster couldn’t really hurt _him_ , but there were a dozen monsters here that could catch the bad end of a blaster if they weren’t careful enough.

“Hey! Gaster it’s me! its okay, it’s okay!” Grillby fanned himself hotter, flushing the room with warmth, hoping some part of it would make it to his friend and snap him out of it. He said as gently as he could manage given the circumstances, “Can you hear me? Come on, G, it’s not real.”

Gaster stammered something back in that strange language. A word, shaking and frantic and broken by Gaster’s panicked breathing. Grillby knew it was the human language but… he’d never learned it. He had no idea what Gaster was saying.

“You can feel your magic, can’t you?” Grillby prompted again, “Can you tell what you’re holding? You can feel me, right?”

Gaster stuttered at him again, but this time managed to repeat himself in a language that Grillby could actually understand, “... y-yes.”

“Can you put me down?”

Grillby wasn’t expecting the abrupt drop, but Gaster dropped him. He landed a bit unsteadily on his own two feet, waiting for a second before cautiously picking his way forward. In the same motion that Gaster dropped him, the skeleton crumpled to his knees, eye sockets screwed tightly shut, head bowed towards the floor. He was still shivering and his hands were still clawing, and Grillby could see he’d actually managed to put chips in the bones.

 _Gods_ he needed to calm him down.

Grillby talked the entire time he approached Gaster, mostly repeating the same phrases over and over. Quiet reassurances. Reminding Gaster of his name. Then he was gently laying his hands on the skeleton’s shoulders, leading him to his feet all the while reminding Gaster that it was _just him_. It was _just Grillby_. It was okay. He had him. He was safe. Grillby would keep him safe. And Gaster nodded and complied when Grillby started leading him away, still shivering, still crying, still hugging himself painfully, eyes shut.

“It’s okay, I’ve got you,” Grillby whispered, and Gaster nodded, “No mages can hurt you, I’m here. You know I’m here. It’s just me.”

Grillby led him out of the room, the monsters there still shocked by whatever in the world had just happened. Watching and confused, and already gossiping. Grillby sighed when he heard it. This was going to tear Gaster up for a while. But that was a problem to deal with later. Right now the best thing Grillby could think to do was get Gaster away from all the watching monsters and the noise. Get him someplace quiet, get him someplace _safe_.

Once out of the main hall, away from the dozens of eyes and prying questions and buzzing voices, Grillby led them to the nearest door and slipped inside. He’d expected to walk a few more steps, thinking he’d stumbled into some side room, only to almost run face-first into the nearby wall. He’d found them a closet. _Great_.

Gaster didn’t care in the least. He lunged for the nearest corner devoid of cleaning supplies and curled up there, his fingers digging deeper grooves into his arms as he collapsed in on himself. Those looked painful. He needed to stop doing that. Grillby had to shuffle a bucket out of the way before he could sit beside him. He tried to move gently, _careful_ and slow so he didn’t startle the skeleton again.

“Gaster,” Grillby whispered, “Gaster I’m going to grab your hands okay?”

Somewhere in between his stammering and shuddering breathing, Gaster whispered a yes. Grillby moved slowly, delicately uncurling Gaster’s clenched up fingers from around his arms. He held them in his own hands, just so Gaster could hang onto something.

“You’re safe now, I promise,” Grillby murmured.

“N-n-nn… n-n-no wh-we’re nnnnot.”

“Yes we are,” Grillby insisted quietly, “No one here is going to hurt you. I’ve got you.”

As he spoke he moved Gaster’s hands, slowly coaxing them closer - and the rest of Gaster with them - until he’d slowly managed to pull the skeleton into a hug. The minute he was given something to hold onto, Gaster clung for dear life. He pressed his face into the crook of Grillby’s neck, his long fingers curled into the fabric of his clothes. He wasn’t crying anymore, but his breathing was still manic.

Grillby just held him a little closer, sighing out a few long breaths, “Hey breathe with me, okay? Breathe. Just like this.”

It took a while. Grillby didn’t know how long, just that it seemed like forever. Slowly though, falteringly, Gaster’s breathing struggled to match Grillby’s. Struggled to become slow and even. And all the while Grillby murmured quietly to Gaster, reminding him over and over again that he was okay. He was safe. What he’d seen wasn’t real. This was all going to pass over. He’d open his eyes and there’d be nothing out of the ordinary around. It was okay. _It was okay._

Eventually Gaster seemed to calm, though the aftermath of the panic left him exhausted. He didn’t bother moving from where Grillby held him, instead just slumping into the elemental’s arms. For a few seconds Grillby wondered if the skeleton might fall asleep there, curled up on the floor of a closet with his face pressed against the side of Grillby’s neck.

Finally he said quietly, “I’m sorry.”

“You’ve got nothing to be sorry about.”

“Yes I do,” Gaster whispered, his voice caught somewhere between exhausted and pitiful, “I threw you into a wall.”

“I’m sure I’ve had worse.”

Silence slipped between them for a few moments.

“... I couldn’t see you.”

Grillby felt Gaster’s fingers curl a little tighter into his shirt.

“... I… couldn’t see anything.”

Grillby flickered a scowl that the skeleton couldn’t see.

“....... it was all just… white…. and... magic and… it wasn’t even a _mage_. Just the goddamn staff,” Gaster sighed a bit shakily, like he might get emotional again, “I’m sorry.”

“I understand, Gaster,” Grillby said reassuringly, though the gentleness of the words left a bitter taste in his mouth. He didn’t _want_ to understand. He didn’t even know Gaster went through this stuff too, “You’ve brought me back before. It’s about time I returned the favor.”

Gaster made a sound that could’ve been a laugh if it were more whole-hearted.

“It’s not normally this bad,” Gaster muttered, “And in front of all of those students… oh _gods_.”

“They’ll get over it,” came Grillby’s firm reply. And then a little gentler, “This has happened before?”

Gaster let out a soft noise of affirmation, something without any real syllables or logic. Then he sighed, “... I… can’t handle lights. Blinking ones, you know?”

Grillby nodded. He _didn’t_ know, for lights specifically anyway. But he understood.

“I can’t walk through the labs at night by myself,” the skeleton confessed regretfully, “Because all the computers have flashing lights. I get too paranoid. I have to leave with someone so I have a distraction… or I just… don’t leave my office. I start getting really nervous if I see them.”

He added almost as an afterthought, “It’s not… normally that bad though. Normally I can still see.”

“That was a little more intense than just computer lights,” Grillby pointed out.

Gaster nodded. They lapsed into silence again, the only sound their quiet breathing and an occasional spark from Grillby’s flame. Outside Grillby could hear people moving, concerned voices off in the distance. Honestly Grillby wished they'd all just disappear. Apparently Gaster felt the same.

“I want to go home,” he sighed bitterly.

“Then we’ll go home.”

“I can’t,” Gaster’s voice wavered towards distraught, “I have to finish the review… I have to explain… I…”

“I’ll explain to everyone that the review needs to be cut short,” Grillby murmured, “Just reschedule the kids you haven’t seen yet for a different day.”

“But I can’t just-”

“Yes you can,” Grillby interrupted, a frown burning itself firmly through his flame, “You wouldn’t expect a monster who’d fainted to just get back up and keep going at work, would you?”

“N… no.”

“You’re ill and you need rest,” Grillby declared, “Get whatever you need from your office. I’ll tell the students and get your paperwork.”

Gaster nodded slowly, finally admitting defeat. Grillby helped the skeleton to his feet and walked him out, “You’ll be okay getting to your office by yourself?”

“Yeah… I’ll be fine,” Gaster sighed, making a brave attempt of straightening his disheveled clothes and composing himself.

Just a few steps out the door, one of the lab staff and one of Gaster’s established interns were waiting, both looking concerned and brimming with questions. Gaster flashed them a tense smile and excused himself before anything could be said, and it fell to Grillby to quietly explain what had happened. It was with their help that Grillby shut down the evening, apologizing profusely to the students who hadn’t been reviewed and rescheduling them for another day. There was a soft murmur of complaint and worry, but ultimately everyone left. The monster whose machine had started it all approached Grillby before he could slip out. He offered Grillby the papers Gaster had lost all over the floor and apologized over and over again about what had happened.

Grillby just quietly smiled and reassured them that this wasn’t their fault - they couldn’t have known they were going to cause anything so drastic to happen.

Grillby walked Gaster back to his home. He didn’t stay too often at the skeleton’s home in Hotlands - it was much less hazardous for Gaster to take the trip through Waterfall than it was for Grillby. It felt a bit strange now knowing he would probably be here for the rest of the night. But still, he did it willingly.

Grillby entered the house first and took his time unplugging every computer and electronic that blinked by itself while it was idling. He cooked Gaster a warm dinner - chastising him for never having anything other than takeout in his fridge, and earning a few well-meaning laughs and excuses in response. Then Grillby sat beside Gaster on the skeleton’s bed until eventually he fell asleep, and Grillby stayed awake through the night. If Gaster were anything like Grillby, an episode like this would bring on nightmares, and Grillby wanted to be there for him when they came.

Heavens knew Gaster had pulled _Grillby_ back from a nightmare or a flashback more times than could be counted. Grillby would be there when Gaster needed the same done for him.

It was… strange… Grillby thought. Just as the flashback had sent Gaster spiraling back, thrust him backwards to when he was terrified and alone and unable to protect himself, it had sent Grillby back as well. It cast him back to when Grillby was the pillar of strength, the one thing that always took the hit, the arrow, the blast of magic. It threw him back to when he would gladly let himself be harmed if it meant his more fragile friend stayed untouched and safe. And that’s what Grillby would do now. Gaster would be scared again, and so again Grillby would protect him. That was what had brought them together the first time so many years ago.

It would seem some things were destined never to change.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I both like how this turned out -- and really REALLY DON'T like how this turned out lol.  
> Maybe if I read it in a week or two I'll feel better about it?


End file.
